If the NFL wants to have a 2020 season, it will need to make major changes, and that includes a bubble to house players and employees, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of the federal government’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Fauci is doubtful the league can play a traditional season in home stadiums.
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci said in an interview with CNN. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”
The NBA and MLS are planning to play in Orlando in a bubble, containing and isolating their players. But, as of now, the NFL has no plans to do so. It still expects to start the regular season as scheduled on Sept. 10. The league did have its offseason training program and draft done remotely, but the expectation is for training camps to begin in late July as usual in person. ESPN reported the NFL Players Association has told players that they could be tested every three days once training camp starts.
“We are developing a comprehensive and rapid-result testing program and rigorous protocols that call for a shared responsibility from everyone inside our football ecosystem. … Make no mistake, this is no easy task,” Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said in a statement in response to Fauci.
“We will make adjustments as necessary to meet the public health environment as we prepare to play the 2020 season as scheduled with increased protocols and safety measures for all players, personnel and attendees. We will be flexible and adaptable in this environment to adjust to the virus as needed.”
NFL Network reported Monday that several Cowboys and Texans players, including Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott, tested positive for the virus. Rams coach Sean McVay, on a conference call to announce the new season of the HBO reality series “Hard Knocks” that will chronicle the Rams and Chargers during training camp, questioned the league’s current plan.
“It is a bit mind-numbing,” McVay said. “We’re sitting here talking about handless doors? We’re going to social distance, but we’re playing football? I don’t get it.”
While Fauci is a fan of the NBA’s bubble plan, he warned that it may be best for MLB not to play after September, citing a likely second wave of the virus.